which had a snaking queue of patrons. That suited her fine. She joined the end of the line, and shuffled forward as it moved along.
When she looked again, the police were gone.
She could have approached them. Maybe.
So far, the Tecran she'd met outside the facility seemed to know something about her and not want any involvement. Which meant she was a complication, and sometimes, people just wanted complications to go away.
Whatever happened with the police, they would probably hold on to her.
She decided to find out a little more first, before she took a step that would take away her autonomy.
She'd only just gotten it back.
She stepped out of the line and went back to the vending machine for a second cup of grinabo, and found a new bench that was empty.
As soon as she sat down, she noticed the large screen set to one side of the square.
More than one Tecran stood in the central part of the square, looking up at it as they sipped their morning drink and ate whatever they'd bought for breakfast.
Perhaps it was due to the lack of space in the city center, but none of the cafes had places for people to sit and eat.
Lucy noticed more and more people began gathering in front of the screen and wondered if it had to do with the time of day. Maybe public announcements were made at this time every morning?
The screen flickered to life and an image appeared, and she almost spilled her grinabo as she recognized the facility--a fireball against the night sky. Tecran were racing around, dressed in protective suits, and she caught a glimpse of Dr. Farnn being led off to the side.
She was alive!
She couldn't hear clearly what was being said, and so she stood and began to work her way into the crowd until she was close enough.
There was nothing in the report about survivors. The woman doing the voice-over simply said there was an unknown number of deaths and authorities would have to investigate the scene before more was known.
Then the image faded and she saw three Tecran sitting around a small table. They began discussing the imminent arrival of a United Council battleship, and the upcoming takeover by the UC of the Tecran military, and the overseeing of Tecran political structures.
The crowd grew around her, she could no longer see the square, just people on every side. Their attention was on the screen, though, and she didn't think anyone noticed her at all.
The people onscreen began to discuss the implications for Tecran society of having UC interference, and it was clear that none of the three were happy about the outcome.
“We were forced into this, there was no choice about it,” one of the men on the panel insisted.
“Well, the choice was being kicked out of the UC, and potentially going to war, or submit to their demands,” the woman said. “So we did have a choice, but not a feasible one. My understanding is that the military left us so vulnerable by investing in the Class 5s that once we lost them, even the military thought this UC interference was better than a war we couldn't win.”
“At least this way, after five years, we are once again a sovereign nation,” the third man said. “Not the loser in a war with the Grih.”
“Are we though?” the first man asked. “After five years, can we be sure the UC will walk away?”
“What choice do we have but trust that they will?” the woman said. “We have to hope they keep their word, and to be honest, I haven't known them to lie before.”
“They better keep their word,” someone in the crowd close to her muttered, and the Tecran around him nodded in agreement.
“It's a silent coup, is what it is,” someone spoke a little louder, to Lucy's right.
“That's crazy talk,” someone else called back. “Do you think we're innocent in all this? We should be directing our anger at the military for putting us in this situation, not at the UC. All they've done is follow the laws we helped to write. We've been betrayed by our own.”
There were mutters of agreement, and Lucy realized the crowd was not at all a unified group. Everyone had strong opinions.
But what were these rules the Tecran military had broken?
Suddenly, up on the screen, was an image of people standing on a stage lit with tiny lights, and behind them were buildings that looked like exquisite works of art. The